THT 4083.d
| Known as: | THT 4083.d; SHT 1098.d |
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| Cite this page as: | "THT 4083.d". In A Comprehensive Edition of Tocharian Manuscripts (CEToM). Created and maintained by Melanie Malzahn, Martin Braun, Hannes A. Fellner, and Bernhard Koller. https://cetom.univie.ac.at/?m-tht4083d (accessed 12 Nov. 2025). |
Provenience | |
| Main find spot: | Murtuk |
| Expedition code: | T III M 132, T III M 143, T III M 145 |
| Collection: | Berlin Turfan Collection |
Language and Script | |
| Language: | Skt.; TA |
Text contents | |
| Text genre: | Literary |
| Text subgenre: | Gloss |
| Verse/Prose: | prose |
Object | |
| Material: | ink on paper |
| Form: | Poṭhī |
| Number of lines: | 5 |
Images
Images from idp.bbaw.de by courtesy of the International Dunhuang Project Berlin, the Berlin-Brandenburgische Akademie der Wissenschaften, and the Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin – Orientabteilung.
Transliteration
| a4 | klā wa ṣ[t]rä |
|---|---|
| b1 | śa rka [pa¯] [¯t] |
| b5 | [ñ]u ñu |
Transcription
| a4 | n1n2 klāwaṣträ |
|---|---|
| b1 | n3n4 śarkä pat |
| b5 | n5n6 ñuñu |
Translation
| a4 | (s)he calls |
|---|---|
| b1 | or he burnt |
| b5 | [unclear] |
Commentary
Linguistic commentary
| n1 | Malzahn 2007b: 305 reads klāwatra, which cannot be correct. On top of the akṣara ṣ[t]rä a horizontal line is found that is apparently not to be taken as an anusvāra; a suffixed klāwaṣ[t]r-äṃ would not be expected on the basis of the Sanskrit text anyhow. klāwaṣ[t]rä probably stands for klāwäṣträ* (with wa for wä), the 3sg.prs. of the otherwise unattested caus. klāw-, caus., 'call; recite'. Apparently, the 3sg. mistakenly glosses the 3pl. of the Sanskrit text. |
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| n3 | This gloss is difficult to interpret for a number of reasons. First of all, śarkä seems to be only the beginning of a word, since no TA word ends in -ä and a corrected reading śark does not yield any known form. On the assumption that it is to be completed as a finite verbal form, the most likely verb from a grammatical point of view is kärk- 'bind'. for which an s-preterite is attested. This would result in a 3sg.pt. śarkä〈s〉 'bound'. However, this meaning does not fit the context at all. A second verb fits the context much better: tsärk- 'torment'. For this verb, the meaning 'burn' is attested in TB, and it fits the story inasfar as ultimately king Māghandika pays back his daughter, who has made it possible that he has become king, by burning her rival and her rival's 500 harem women (Waldschmidt 1968: 107). This interpretation can, however, only be put forward with caution, since the TA verb tsärk- is only attested with a vn tsärślune 'torment', which may well have to be explained as an isolated remnant of a verb that has otherwise disappeared from the language. Nevertheless, this verb very probably did form an s- preterite originally (Peyrot 2013b: 845). A further assumption that is needed is that the Tocharian glossator misunderstood the Sanskrit construction and glossed pratikṛtaṃ as if it were an isolated participle, i.e. 'paid back' (as it is translated above). In fact, it is part of a compound tense: kiṃ mayā tasyāḥ kṛtaṃ vā syāt pratikṛtaṃ vā 'Was könnte von mir für sie getan oder in Vergeltung getan werden?' ['What could be done by me for her, or done to pay back?'] (Waldschmidt, l.c.). |
| n5 | This gloss, which might also have [n]u as its first akṣara, is unclear. At the right edge of the same line. a further gloss t· /// is found, glossing dvigu(ṇaṃ) 'double' or the following word, which is lost. Excluded are in any case TA wäṣt 'double' and treyo 'thrice'. |
Philological commentary
| n2 | glosses Skt. paṭhaṃti 'they recite' (Waldschmidt 1968: 106. |
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| n4 | possibly explains Skt. pratikṛtaṃ vā 'or paid back' (on the actual meaning in the context, see below). |
| n6 | glosses Skt. sthāpitāḥ 'established' (cf. Waldschmidt 1968: 108, '... Die dort als Verwalter eingesetzt waren' ['... who were instated as stewards there']). |
References
Online access
Miscellaneous
Peyrot 2014: 133, 141-3; Peyrot 2013b: 743; Peyrot 2013a: 243
Bibliography
“The International Dunhuang Project: The Silk Road Online.” n.d. http://idp.bl.uk.
Malzahn, Melanie. 2007b. “A preliminary survey of the Tocharian glosses in the Berlin Turfan Collection.” In Instrumenta Tocharica, edited by Melanie Malzahn, 301–19. Heidelberg: Winter.
Peyrot, Michaël. 2013a. “Review of: The Tocharian Verbal System.” Tocharian and Indo-European Studies 14: 213–59.
Peyrot, Michaël. 2013b. The Tocharian subjunctive. A study in syntax and verbal stem formation. Vol. 8. Brill’s Studies in Indo-European Languages & Linguistics. Leiden/Boston: Brill.
Peyrot, Michaël. 2014. “Notes on Tocharian glosses and colophons in Sanskrit manuscripts I.” Tocharian and Indo-European Studies 15: 131–79.
Waldschmidt, Ernst. 1968. “Ein Textbeitrag zur Udayana-Legende.” Nachrichten der Akademie der Wissenschaften in Göttingen Phil.-hist. Kl. 1968: 101–25.
